Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976

In brief

Section 20 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 lets a local authority serve a notice on an owner or occupier of a 'relevant place' in its area requiring them to provide sanitary appliances of the kinds and numbers, and in the positions, that the notice specifies, to maintain and keep them clean to the council's reasonable satisfaction, to provide a proper supply of things for use with them such as hot and cold water, and to make them available to members of the public, free of charge if the notice says so (section 20(1)). A county council in England and the Greater London Council are excluded from the power (section 20(1)). A 'relevant place' is narrower than any premises open to the public: it means a place normally used, or proposed to be normally used, to hold an entertainment, exhibition or sporting event to which members of the public are admitted, or to sell food or drink to members of the public for consumption at the place, a place used for those purposes on some occasions, or a betting office (section 20(9)). 'Sanitary appliances' means water closets, other closets, urinals and wash basins (section 20(9)). A notice cannot require fixed appliances of a different kind from, or more numerous than, those building regulations could require if the building were newly constructed (section 20(3)(a)). Failing without reasonable excuse to comply with a s.20 notice is an offence triable either way (s.20(6)). The Act prints £400 as the summary maximum; for offences committed on or after 12 March 2015 the summary maximum is an unlimited fine (Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 s.32(2), then Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 s.85(1)), and on indictment it is an unlimited fine. If the failure continues after conviction, each further day is a further offence carrying up to £50 on summary conviction (this figure is kept by MCA 1980 s.32(4)) or an unlimited fine on indictment. The recipient of a notice other than an occasional notice may appeal to the county court within six weeks, on the grounds that a requirement is unreasonable or that it would have been fairer to serve another owner or occupier (section 21(1)), and the notice has no effect pending the appeal (section 21(6)). The text of the Act contains no reference to sex or gender and does not say whether appliances are to be provided separately for different sexes, for all users together or as single-user rooms; the kinds and numbers are for the council's notice. The Act does not extend to Scotland or Northern Ireland (section 83(3)).

Key provisions

• s.20(1) — The council's power to require sanitary appliances by notice : A local authority (other than a county council in England and the Greater London Council) may by notice served on an owner or occupier of a relevant place in its area require them (a) to provide, before the expiry of a period specified in the notice and in the positions specified, sanitary appliances of the kinds and numbers specified; (b) to maintain and keep them clean to the authority's reasonable satisfaction; (c) to provide and maintain a proper supply of things for use with them, which may include cold or hot water; and (d) to make the appliances and things available for use by members of the public resorting to the place and, if the notice so requires, free of charge. Per s.20(2), a notice may require provision on specified occasions only, and if it does so it cannot also require provision for other occasions. Per s.20(4), a notice may be served although an earlier notice is still being complied with, and may require provision of appliances already there.
• s.20(9) — 'Relevant place' and 'sanitary appliances' : 'Relevant place' means (a) a place normally used, or proposed to be normally used, for (i) holding any entertainment, exhibition or sporting event to which members of the public are admitted either as spectators or otherwise, or (ii) the sale of food or drink to members of the public for consumption at the place; (b) a place used on some occasion or occasions, or proposed to be used on some occasion or occasions, for either purpose; and (c) a betting office. 'Sanitary appliances' means water closets, other closets, urinals and wash basins. 'Occasional notice' means a notice requiring provision on specified occasions. 'Betting office' means premises, other than a track, in respect of which a betting premises licence under Part 8 of the Gambling Act 2005 has effect.
• s.20(3)(a) — Ceiling set by building regulations : A notice shall not require the provision, in connection with any building for which fixed sanitary appliances could be required by building regulations in force when the notice is served if the building were newly constructed then, of fixed sanitary appliances of a different kind from, or (for a particular kind) more numerous than, those that could be so required. Per s.20(3)(b), a notice shall not require movable sanitary appliances at a betting office. Per s.20(3)(c), unless it is an occasional notice, the notice must give a period at least as long as the period for appealing under section 21.
• s.20(5)-(8) — Entry, offence and defences : Per s.20(5), a person authorised in writing by the authority may at any reasonable time, on producing evidence of authority if asked, enter any relevant place to decide whether to serve a notice or to check compliance with one; wilful obstruction is an offence punishable by a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. s.20(6): offence, triable either way, of failing without reasonable excuse to comply with a sanitary-appliances notice, subject to the defences in s.20(7)–(8). The Act prints £400; for offences committed on or after 12 March 2015 the summary maximum is an unlimited fine (MCA 1980 s.32(2); LASPO 2012 s.85(1)). Unlimited fine on indictment. Continuing failure after conviction: a further offence for each day, up to £50 per day summarily (unchanged, MCA 1980 s.32(4)) or an unlimited fine on indictment. The legislation.gov.uk text still shows £400 because the change works by operation of law, not by amending the text. Per s.20(7) it is a defence that the person was neither an owner nor an occupier at the time of the failure and did not cease to be one in order to avoid compliance. Per s.20(8) it is a defence that on the day in question the place was closed to the public or used neither as a betting office nor for the purposes in s.20(9)(a), and, for an occasional notice, that the requirement was unreasonable or it would have been fairer to serve someone else.
• s.21 — Appeal to the county court : Per s.21(1), a person served with a notice other than an occasional notice may within six weeks beginning with the date of service appeal to the county court on one or both grounds: that a requirement of the notice is unreasonable, or that it would have been fairer to serve another owner or occupier of the place. Per s.21(3), the court shall quash the notice, modify it so that it falls on another owner or occupier, order the appellant to recover a specified part of the expenses from another person, or dismiss the appeal; the powers to modify or order recovery are available only if the ground that it would have been fairer to serve another owner or occupier is made out. Per s.21(6), the notice has no effect pending determination, and the court may extend the period for compliance.
• s.20(10)-(13) — Disabled persons : Per s.20(11), a notice under section 20 shall draw the attention of the person served to sections 6(1) and 7 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 and to the Code of Practice for Access for the Disabled to Buildings, which s.20(12) defines, subject to s.20(13), as the British Standards Institution code BS 5810: 1979. Per s.20(10), section 6(1) of the 1970 Act is amended so that a person required to provide sanitary conveniences by a notice under section 20 (rather than section 89 of the Public Health Act 1936) must have regard to the needs of disabled persons in complying.
• s.83(3) — Extent : Per s.83(3), the Act does not extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland. Per s.20(1), the power is that of a 'local authority', defined for Part I in s.44(1) as a county council, a district council, a London borough council, the Common Council and the Council of the Isles of Scilly (with additions for named other sections); section 20(1) excludes a county council in England and the Greater London Council. The long title describes the Act as making amendments 'for England and Wales'.

When relevant

Relevant when a venue, event organiser, restaurant, café, pub, sports ground or betting office in England or Wales asks whether the council can require it to provide toilets, how many, where, and whether they must be free to the public: section 20 lets the council fix the kinds, numbers and positions of sanitary appliances by notice (section 20(1)), for the places defined in section 20(9). It is about quantity, upkeep and public availability. It says nothing about whether toilets are separated by sex, so it does not answer any question about single-sex, mixed-sex or gender-neutral provision; for that, use the Equality Act 2010 Part 3 with FWS-UKSC-2025 and EHRC-SVC-COP, and ADT2024 for building standards in England. It does not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland, and the definition in section 20(9) excludes places that are none of the listed kinds. A council's own toilet policy (one is held beside this record as a worked example, not as an authority) is persuasive only. Decision support, not legal advice.